Hopes rise for release of Wood

Page Tools

Hopes are rising for the release of Australian hostage Douglas
Wood after his kidnappers moved him to a safe location and urged
Australia's top Muslim cleric to return to Iraq.

Sheikh Taj Aldin Alhilali says he is confident the 63-year-old
engineer will be set free soon now he had been moved to a new
location, away from gun battles in Iraq.

His hopes were revealed during an interview today with SBS
reporter Majida Abboud-Saab, who said the sheikh was ready to
return to Iraq as soon as possible to help secure Mr Wood's
release.

''A very important development is that he was told that he
(Wood) was moved from one place to another to ensure his safety
away from the fighting,'' Ms Abboud-Saab told AAP.

''That was done overnight.''

The sheikh last week offered to trade places with Mr Wood, who
was kidnapped four weeks ago by a rebel group calling itself the
Shura Council of the Mujahideen of Iraq.

Ms Abboud-Saab said the sheikh, who was in an undisclosed
capital city near Iraq, would return to the war-torn country as
soon as needed.

''The tribal leaders have asked him to return immediately to
Iraq,'' she said.

''The return means the release is imminent because the
kidnappers have said they would hand Douglas Wood to the sheikh
personally.''

A spokesman for Mr Wood's family in Australia said they were
heartened by the sheikh's comments.

''The family is very pleased with anything the sheikh can do
that might lead to the release of Douglas,'' he said.

While the sheikh is hopeful that Mr Wood will be released soon,
he renewed his call for the kidnappers to release a video showing
the Australian was alive and well.

But he said he was concerned that a Japanese hostage had been
killed in Iraq.

A four-minute hostage video from the extremist Army of Ansar
al-Sunna showed a man's back covered in blood and a picture of his
passport. It said he died from gunshot wounds during an ambush.

Japanese officials confirmed the man was 44-year-old security
contractor Akihiko Saito, who was seized in Iraq about 20 days
ago.

''He (the sheikh) said while he is very concerned and upset
about that he is confident about Douglas Wood because this just
confirms that these kidnappers ... have nothing to fear ... and if
they had killed their hostage they would say so,'' Ms Abboud-Saab
said.